A [Polish] Roman Catholic Christmas

Describe the religion you celebrate.
“I’m Roman Catholic. I regularly attend mass every weekend. I’ve been Roman Catholic my entire life. You can call me a Cradle Catholic. Christmastime is the most important holiday of the year because that’s when our savior Jesus Christ was born. It’s basically one of the most important holidays of the year for my family, for my church, besides Easter, too.”

Describe the religious holidays you celebrate during the winter season.
“We open presents, we have our Polish dinner. It’s a tradition we celebrate called Wigilia, pronounced “Veh-lay-uh,” and it’s basically a Polish dinner celebrated at sundown. There’s Christmas wafer, which is called oplatek, and basically you go around to everyone at the table and give a small piece to them, wishing them wellness for the year ahead of them, good health, good luck in sports. Sometimes there’s crying, because it gets very emotional. It’s one of my favorite things to do, and you can even give it to your pets, too, it’s really funny.”

For what religious reasons do you celebrate the winter holidays?
“It’s the most important time of the year for Catholics. Jesus comes down and assumes form as a man; he just loves us so much that he comes down and becomes man. It really symbolizes his love for us because he will eventually go on to die on the cross for us, so it’s a very important time of the year. It basically defines Christianity.”

Has Christmas become less religious over the years?
“Oh, absolutely. Unfortunately, secularization of the holidays has been taking over and I don’t think that’s necessarily right. I think we really need to recognize that on Christmas Jesus Christ was born, for our sake, because he loved us. It’s not about getting all these presents. It’s just too commercialized now, and you forget the religious part of it. But I think the holidays are a great time to get together, even if you’re not religious at all.”

Is it okay to say ‘Merry Christmas,’ or should people be more religiously objective?
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spreading the joy of Christmas. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think it’s great. Even if people might not celebrate that holiday, it’s about getting together and sharing the warmth and the love around this time of year.”